Coastal protection works in Wexford village redesigned – ‘the people wanted us to extend the works and that’s what we’re going to do’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

While there can be occasionally be a negative perception of Wexford County Council (WCC) among the general public, a sense that its staff operate within the confines of County Hall and don’t engage with the world outside, the opposite can also be true.

This was most certainly the case when it came to designing coastal protection works in the north Wexford village of Cahore. At a public meeting last year, environmental engineer with WCC Enda Brennan bore the brunt of the public’s frustrations as they voiced their displeasure at the plans presented to them, arguing that the works needed to be extended to include the car park and surrounding areas.

Taking those concerns on board, Mr Brennan redesigned the project, extending it by 300m and presenting it to the public anew in March of this year.

“The primary purpose of the scheme is to protect the 14 properties along the coastline in Cahore,” he said at the monthly meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD). “We have the appropriate assessment (AA) screening done as well as the coastal erosion report, and we’re looking to submit the project for planning approval now.”

Referencing the first public meeting held late last year, Mr Brennan said he and his team “took away the concerns raised and revisited the scheme – the people in the area wanted us to extend the works and that’s what we’re going to do.”

This will see an additional 300m of the coast protected, taking the entire area of the works up to 500m. Funding of €500,000 has already been secured for phase one of the works (which will see 200m of the coastline protected with rock armour) and WCC has already applied for funding for phases two and three of the scheme which will see an additional 300m of coastline protected and the construction of concrete access ramps at the car park area.

Mr Brennan confirmed that WCC will commence phase one of the works while they await funding approval for phases two and three.

Praising Mr Brennan for taking on board the public’s feedback, Councillor Mary Farrell said the second meeting with the public was a success because “people felt they had been listened to, that you had went away, took on board what they had said, and came back with solutions.”